We kicked off the 2025/26 Barclays Women's Super League campaign with a resounding 4-1 victory over London City Lionesses.
Our opening day success at Emirates Stadium featured goals from debutant Olivia Smith, Chloe Kelly, Stina Blackstenius and Frida Maanum.
Our tactical expert Adrian Clarke has cast his eye over the footage and stats to work out why we were so brilliant in our home opener:
a dream debut for smith
We started this match slowly, falling behind to a 17th minute penalty, but before any kind of frustration had begun to set in, our record signing Olivia Smith lifted Emirates Stadium with a truly sensational debut goal.
Dancing past a defender in the middle of the pitch, the 21-year-old then fizzed a right-footed rocket into the corner from all of 25 yards. It was an unstoppable equaliser that shone a light on the Canadian’s immense talent.
Smith’s dribbling skills were a threat all afternoon, mainly from the right wing, but this strike came during a spell where she had switched flanks with Chloe Kelly. That pattern was repeated at various intervals.
Her two-footedness also caught the eye.
During the second period Smith cut inside to drive a fierce left-footed effort which was well saved by the visiting keeper.
Displaying quick feet, a lovely turn of speed, and a willingness to have plenty of shots, it’s fair to say Smith lived up to her growing reputation on debut.
During her 61 minutes on the pitch, she had four shots and enjoyed 10 touches inside the box.
It was a sparkling way to announce herself to the Gunners’ fans.
[Read more
Smith: "I couldn't have asked for a better start"](https://www.arsenal.com/news/smith-i-couldnt-have-asked-better-start?utm_source=arsenaldotcom&utm_medium=embedded-article&utm_campaign=news)
problem solving was impressive
They may have just been promoted to the WSL, but the ambitious London City Lionesses boasted a strong starting XI packed with experience.
The visitors also came to N5 with a clear game plan, looking to press high up the pitch and deny central defenders Katie Reid and Steph Catley the opportunity to build with ease from the back.
It was bold, and challenging to deal with, but the players quickly figured out innovative ways to play out, and through the thirds.
Here, you see how London City got tight to both centre backs and holding midfielder Kim Little.
Our No.10 Victoria Pelova recognised this, sprinting back from her advanced position to offer Daphne van Domselaar an angle…
She turned on the ball brilliantly, before playing a brave progressive pass into the feet of Smith, who intelligently drifted in off the right.
The angle provided by Mariona Caldentey was perfect, and the Spaniard was quickly able to instantly release right back Emily Fox.
This was sophisticated, quality football…
In the second half, with their opponents stopping Pelova being an out-ball, the Gunners had to find other ways to bypass the press.
Below, you see Fox sprint inside from her position to become the de facto holding midfielder, having seen that Little had pushed on towards halfway.
Our players were bright like this in their thinking all game…
russo: more than just a striker
Alessia Russo may not have scored in this contest, but she still delivered a wonderful individual performance.
Full of selfless running the 26-year-old was a constant outlet for teammates, working the opposition back line by showing for passes down the left, right and middle of the pitch.
Russo looked after the ball very well, often using a clever first touch to take the ball away from defenders.
We saw this for her assist right on the stroke of half-time.
Receiving a pass inside the danger zone, the England international’s first touch helped her spin in behind, before cutting the ball back perfectly for Kelly to poke it home.
That crucial second goal stemmed from a high turnover that was forced by some excellent pressing from Arsenal…
Fox intercepted the pass, fed the ball into Russo, who did brilliantly to create space for Kelly to convert…
On the day, Russo created four chances, showing once again that she is a top-class all-round forward.
super stats
On paper this was a testing, potential banana-skin MW1 clash for the European champions, but despite trailing early on they exuded an air of confidence throughout.
And once they found their attacking groove it did become one-way traffic.
The ‘touches in the opposition box’ stat is a real eye-catcher.
Constantly feeding the ball into the danger zone, we had excellent penetration levels all game long, reaching a total of 66.
Across the WSL weekend we actually had 23 more touches inside the box than the closest team, Manchester United, with London City Lionesses (7) having the fewest.
Interestingly, three of our players (Russo, Smith and Mead) all had more involvements each inside the box than our opponents managed as a team.
We were also the only WSL side to register 10 shots on target.
This Action Areas graphic paints an accurate reflection of the game we saw on Saturday lunchtime.
fantastic finishers
Plenty of credit should also go to second half substitutes Beth Mead, Frida Maanum, Stina Blackstenius and Caitlin Foord.
All four replacements came on and impacted the match greatly with their energy and quality inside the final third.
Just as our London rivals tired, this quartet leapt into action to ensure we extended our advantage.
Mead produced two delightful right-wing crosses for her fellow ‘finishers’ that ultimately gave us the handsome win we deserved.
She clipped a ball towards the far post for Maanum, that was pinched off her head by the outstretched leg of Blackstenius…
But just moments later Maanum did get the headed goal she was searching for, nodding home another glorious Mead cross that was hung up to the far post.
It may have been a slow burner in terms of Renee Slegers’ side finding top gear, but once they got a grip on this match, there was only ever going to be one outcome.
The way we handled what could have been an awkward early season encounter should fill everyone involved with tremendous confidence moving forward.
This was an impressive way to get our title bid up and running.
[Read more
Watch a full match replay of our London City win](https://www.arsenal.com/news/watch-full-match-replay-our-london-city-win?utm_source=arsenaldotcom&utm_medium=embedded-article&utm_campaign=news)
Copyright 2025 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.